Buck and the Preacher

Starring:Harry Belafonte, Tony Brubaker, Ruby Dee, Lynn Hamilton, Dennis Hines, Errol John, Bobby Johnson (II), Doug Johnson, Pamela Jones, John Kelly (XIV), James McEachin, Kenneth Menard, Denny Miller, Cameron Mitchell, Clarence Muse, Sidney Poitier, Nita Talbot, Drake Walker, Fred M. Waugh
Director: Sidney Poitier
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Sidney Poitier made his directing debut with this 1972 action comedy with an edge to it. Made at the height of the Black Power movement in America, the film has an unmistakable militancy in its story of a wagon-train guide and a con man who team up to throw a posse of white nightriders off the trail of escaped slaves. Poitier has never been a distinctive filmmaker, and Buck and the Preacher certainly doesn't indicate any early signs of raw talent that later went undeveloped. But the film's energy and sense of fun, hand in hand with the suggestively political zing, make it watchable. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Simply Superb........2005-07-03

Excellent flick! Holds your interest from start to finish.

Harry Bellefonte and Sidney Portier have the chemistry to make this movie really work! And I can't say which actor does the better performance. I especially like the scene where they are bargaining for passage to the West past the Indians, and the Commanches demands more horses.

Mel Brooks later did a funny take off on this movie scene in "Blazing Saddles" where he plays the Indian Chief who, when he sees the Blacks, exclaims "Ah, Schwartzes!"

Anyway, this movie is going into my tape library as one of the best for characterization, if not story.

Classic Film.......2004-08-01

Sidney Poitier went full strength behind the scenes as a Director in this Film classic that dealt with alot of Issues.It showcased the Black West which hasn't gotten enough mainstream shine. mario Van peoples made a little noise with "Posse" but on a whole this element of Black Life hasn't gotten it's full shine in the Mainstream.Poitier&Belafonte truly have strong chemistry here. a must see film.

Brought The Black West to Life Before Posse.......2002-10-25

While I liked Posse, This was the film that brought the Black West to a wider audience. Sidney Poitier as Buck is exciting and Harry Belafonte and Cicely Tyson give him a big helping hand.

Yahoo! Great shoot-em up fun!.......2002-10-17

Looking for fast, shoot-em up fun with a little morality tale attached..this is it! Sidney Poitier is terrific as Buck, the former slave now gun slinger who helps newly freed slaves to homestead out west and guards them night riders trying to bring them back to a dying, post civil war south. Belefonte is charming as the Preacher who gives the good word as well as sling a colt .45. Don't miss Belefonte's terrific "fornication" speech scene. It's topped off with a stellar supporting cast including Ruby Dee as Buck's wife. This movie would be great fun to watch back to back with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid just to compare the relationships between the four characters. So sorry this movie is hard to find. It's great fun, especially for western fans. Happy watching!

Reconstruction.... Western style!.......2001-03-21

Although I originally viewed this film as a child and viewed it then just as a comedic western I have in more later years come to know and understand this story as just one of the many injustices done to black americans after slavery had ended. The events portrayed dramatically and I must assume all too accurately reflect the open hostility and lawlessness that was too often visited upon a people simply in search of a better life.

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